Chapter Text
The first time it happens he really didn’t mean to.
It was sort of a whirlwind, getting his shit beat and then having to immediately wake up from being halfway unconscious to set a tunnel to what is essentially hell on fire, but Steve thought he was handling it pretty well.
“COME ON!” Steve urged, leading the others towards the entrance of the tunnel, not exactly eager to stay there while it’s collapsing in on them.
“I think there’s more of them!” And isn’t that exactly what Steve needed. More of the crazy blood-thirsty monsters trying to kill them.
“Cmon, I’ll help you up!” He was already halfway to helping Max back up through the pit they had managed to venture into, Lucas followed closely behind. It wasn’t exactly easy with a major head injury and battering to his… well, everywhere, but the adrenaline had to be good for something, right?
He hissed as Mike scrambled up the rope, using Steve’s head as leverage on accident. Not that he noticed in the rush, but it still hurt like a bitch. So maybe that’s reason enough for his mind not being in a mental state to make reasonable rash decisions.
“Cmon, Henderson!” He urged, but Dustin was frozen in place, staring down the tunnel at the ever growing growling that permeated the air and cut through it like shrapnel.
“You won’t have time to get out!” Dustin hisses right back, seemingly drawn out of his trance by the prodding. Something in Dustin’s gaze sets as he turns to look at Steve. “If you die, I die.”
Steve stares at Dustin for longer than he probably should have if he wanted the kid to get up the damned rope. “If you die, I’m going to die, dipshit.” He retorted, his continued response abandoned as some of the creatures come into view.
Shit.
“Shit!”
Yes, thank you, Henderson.
Crap, if Steve wanted to do anything to save both himself and the shithead trying to make a martyr out of himself then he had to think fast.
Steve Harrington is not good at thinking fast.
“Don’t squirm.” This was all the warning Dustin Henderson got before the world basically fell out from under him, every noise suddenly reverberating in his head about ten times as loud.
Steve didn’t really see the use for these sorts of powers, especially not in a small town like Hawkins. It was bad enough for kids like Wheeler who were just nerds, worse even for kids like Sinclair, Byers Junior, and Dustin who were called slurs. Steve didn’t and still doesn’t want to think of what people’s reactions would be to someone having some stupid shit like magic powers. Though maybe it’s not as bad as he thought, especially since supergirl didn’t seem to be ostracized by the kids. That might just be their weird way of being friends though. Tommy Hayes would have had a field day with Steve had he known.
Steve wasted no time grabbing Henderson from midair before he faced a horrible and sudden death falling face first to the ground, shoving the little shit in his mouth and clicking his teeth closed as he hustled up the rope after the kids who had already gone up. It’s not his fault that he needed his hands open.
“Where’s Dustin?!” Mike demands, grasping onto Steve’s shirt before he could even get his damned leg out of the tunnel. Steve choked, coughing as his hands came up to make sure he didn’t drop the little shit who was doing exactly what he told him not to do and squirming like a damned mad man.
Was it Steve’s fault that he swallowed when Mike had his little goblin fists basically strangling him? Steve thinks not, but the consensus from the squirming kid inside him apparently thinks otherwise based on the abuse that the inside of his esophagus and stomach is going through.
“Fuck! Give me a minute.” Steve gasped for air as Mike pulled his hands away like he was burnt. His hands scrambled on a dirt and gravel that only served to hurt people’s hands and feet, wheezing as he pressed at his stomach, feeling Dustin squirm like a fish out of water.
“Did you leave him down there?!” Mike exclaimed, the panic clearly having set in as he tries to get closer to the hole to the tunnel, dragged back only by Max who was the only of the kids to have some damned common sense.
“He’s fucking fine, just-“ Steve huffs, finally sitting back up as the adrenaline starts to wear off. Shit. He really accidentally ate one of the kids.
“…Fuck.” Sue him, he’s not eloquent when he’s distressed. Who is?
“What the fuck do you mean ‘Fuck’?!” Max asked this time, becoming increasingly worried as she realized that Dustin’s not coming out of that hole any time soon. “You didn’t-“
“No, I didn’t fucking leave him down there. I already told you, shitheads.” He muttered as he got to his feet, his head feeling increasingly light as the moments go on. “I just- uh.” He stumbled on his feet, almost falling right back on his ass before getting his footing. How does he phrase this in a way that won’t immediately cause everybody to crowd him like a pregnant mother?
“…I ate him?” He blurts, his pain-filled brain deciding that being blunt is the best option.
“…Sorry, I don’t think I caught that. You ate him? Like-“ Max motions eating, getting surprisingly close to the asl sign for it despite not knowing any asl.
Steve groans, already hobbling to the beat up car that has seen better days just hours ago. He can feel Dustin abusing his insides and it’s not a good feeling for anybody, especially not the ones whose insides are actively being treated like they’re hostile.
“…Are we just supposed to accept that?!” Lucas exclaims after the three are frozen for a few moments in shock, shaking Steve as he gets into the drivers seat.
“Dude, I don’t know what you want me to tell you. I shrank him, I put him in my mouth, Wheeler shook me, and I accidentally swallowed him.” He muttered, searching for the keys before realizing Max is holding them.
“Keys.” He holds his hand out the car door to motion for them, but Max only pulls them away from him, hugging them to her chest.
“I’m not giving you these until you explain.” She said, stepping further back and staring at Steve like he’s a crazy person. Which he might as well be.
“…I just explained it.” He says, gesturing for the keys only to groan when she tosses them back to Mike, clearly trying to play some sort of elaborate keep away where he wasn’t even trying to fight to get them.
“Yeah, well not well enough. Give us.. proof, or something.” She shrugged, looking to Lucas who nodded alongside Mike, albeit the latter much more reluctant and much more suspicious, trying to edge back to the hole to see if his friends guts are all over the walls.
“What, you want me to hack up my stomach in front of you?” Max seems to realize how gross that might be, nose shriveling as she turned her head away and covered eyes.
“Just make it quick.” Mike says, not bothering to cover his own eyes like Lucas and Max are doing. More preoccupied with making sure Dustin is okay than any gross shit that happens. Reasonable, Steve would probably be fucking shaking someone down too if he thought they left behind his friend to be killed. He’s actually more surprised that he’s not currently getting his second concussion for the day, but small wins, right?
“Fine. I can just cough the little shit up if he stops- fucking squirming..” he grumbles, hacking as he tries to regurgitate what he thinks is about to be the most annoyed and scared kid in the history of ever.
“Hey, what was that for?!” He said, covered head to toe in saliva and stomach acid but not worse for wear than he was when he first accidentally got sent down. He didn’t seem upset, just pissed.
Well, at least he got the annoyed part down pat.
“Jesus Christ.” Mike swore, Max and Lucas’s heads swiveling to him before back to Dustin with the exact same reaction.
“What the fuck?” They said simultaneously as Steve ruffled through the drawer on the passengers side for something to wash the little shit off.
“Sorry, Henderson, it’s cold.” He muttered, making direct eye contact with the currently 6 inch tall kid in his hand. Which is frankly impressive, honestly, seeing as hes getting drenched to all hell by freezing cold water.
Max stepped closer, Lucas following close behind with Mike still in the back like he was trying to gauge whether or not Steve was going to eat them next.
Steve huffed as he caught onto this out of the corner of his eye, holding his gaze for a moment before rolling his eyes. “I’m not going to eat you, Wheeler, calm yourself.” He muttered, tuning out Dustin as he finished drying the kid off.
“Says the guy who just ate someone!” He’s clearly still in shock, just as the rest of them (including Steve. Has he mentioned he has a bit of a concussion?) are.
Max huffs, still wrapping her head around it herself. “I mean, you choked him out I don’t think he had much of a choice.” It was clearly meant as a sarcastic comment, which Mike didn’t like apparently if the immediate argument he started with Max which Lucas butted into said anything.
Steve huffed, amused at their antics. Blinking, he remembered the kid in his palms, turning his attention back to him.
“You sure you’re good, Henderson?” He didn’t know if the pouting was cause he was just drenched by a nuclear blast of water or because of the fact he got eaten, but either way guilt pulled at Steve’s chest, frowning as he prodded at Dustin.
“Im-“ he hums, not great with apologies. “I’m sorry I- uh… ate you.” He says lamely. It comes out awkward and like he’s tripping over words that aren’t all that difficult to say. Dustin’s head shoots up to this, an immediate fire in his eye.
“No, that’s not what I’m upset about!” He exclaimed, waving his arms around. “I just…” he huffed, eyes falling away from Steve’s face and eventually looking away Steve’s right. “…Why didn’t you tell me?” Dustin knows it’s illogical. He’s only known Steve for a few days at this point, and it’s not like they’re the closest people ever… But still! People are supposed to tell people stuff like that when they’re fighting monsters from other dimensions or getting their face pummeled in by someone they could have squished under their boot. Literally.
“Yeah, well.” He huffed, ruffling the tiny boys hair with his thumb. Hah, atleast he didn’t have a constantly hovering teenager on him at all times now. “I can’t exactly promote my services, Henderson.” He expected more of a fight out of the teen but it was like the whole thing made him sort of out of it. Fuck, Steve needs to really make it up to the kid after this-
“…Services?” Dustin asked, centered in on that word. Steve paused, eyebrows furrowing before giving him a deadpan look, clearly understanding where this conversation is going.
“I’m not eating you again, dipshit.” He denies this before Dustin can even say it aloud, and he must have hit it on the head since Dustin seems like a wet soppy cat if the cat was a (frankly dirt tasting) teenager.
“Cmon, Steve! It wasn’t actually that bad, and I didn’t even get digested! This is a monumental opportunity for scientific testing!” He basically groveled, using full advantage of him being tiny to look like a dog begging for a treat.
“Dude, no! I’m not going to be turned into your science project.” He protests, although his resolution wasn’t there to begin with. He was scared shitless that Dustin was going to die and there was nowhere safer than somewhere Steve could feel and know where the shithead was at all times.
Dustin looked at him expecting, almost knowing that Steve had already decided that he would be protecting the dipshit. Steve huffed, grumbling as he lifted Dustin back to his mouth.
“Fuck.” He sighed, melting against the back of the seat before opening his mouth, careful to not move. “Cmon, shithead. I’m not waiting for you to grow a pair and get in.” He muttered, muffled as his face turned pained, Dustin scrambling in with no regards for his poor tongue, his nails scraping against the muscle.
“Don’t squirm this time, seriously.” He mumbled, tilting his head back and letting the teen push himself down the passage. Steve sighed, untensing as he felt for him. It wasn’t that he was worried something would happen, he just didn’t want to accidentally hurt the little idiot. “You alright in there, Henderson?” He asked, pressing lightly as his stomach. It wasn’t as if he could hear him or see him, but he could feel the shithead squirming inside already so he was relieved that he was okay all the same.
“Where’d Dustin go?” Lucas asked, popping in his head through the window after Steve started the car.
“…Just get in, Sinclair.”